Ace of Clubs

The city of Lucern brought down to its knees. Foggy as the smoke rose, the buildings were reduced to ashes, wood turning to coal, corpses mangled into a sinews of death and despair while the air of morality was thick. His friends surrounded him, their face contorted in anger. They did not understand what all of this meant, so they could not help but ask him; "Arise… answer us, are you really our ally?" The woman's voice aired, not gentle, like she used to. But hoarse with the ashes of the city.

Embers filled the air, flames ravaged the land. The suffocating smoke obstructed his--

lungs, he coughed, covering his mouth from the foul burnt smell of flesh and hair. Then

Arise looked around, cornered by his friends.

 His body twitched, hesitant as he reached his hand up the air. It was not his own making nor everyone else, he thought that figure was something else entirely. It did not belong to this world, nor this universe entirely.

Nothing but gruff came out of him. He coughed, as ashes filled his lungs. "I am, I can't believe you all doubt my identity,"

Amongst the friends, whose faces tremble in terror and anger. One stood out to protect him, a boy with an ocean hued eyes. He argued with the crowd, protesting Arise the way he could.

Yet, even with his pleading, no one believed him. Whispering to each other, magic flowing on the palm of their hands. Their eyes narrowed, limbs trembling, permeating with distrust. To them, Arise was no different than the sovereigns who wrecked havoc seventy years ago. The buildings smoldered in the growing blaze. Now, highlighted by the flames, brandishing their weapons to Arise, who's done nothing but help them.

"Are you serious?" Arise craned his neck, what he feared was true. What the phantom said was true, it was right there, under his nose. A big red spot on a map, yet he did not see it.

The edge of their weapons pointed to Arise, glimmering by the orange glow of the flames. He ruffled his pockets, trembling as he found garbage that he did not use. Bottles fell to the ground, shattered, liquids evaporated from the heat of the fire. 

He did not want to reason again, his first attempt was not successful. But his desire to not inflict harm on them rose. It was a dilemma, on the first hand, these people would not hesitate to murder him, second, he himself told them that if they even doubt his actions.

Kill him

It was stupid. He knew it was stupid, but that was the only precaution he could think of. His breathing became labored, backing away from his friends. He reached out to his pockets one more time, he brought out a flimsy card out of his pocket.

Arise's lips parted as he saw what he pulled. Unveiling from the shadow, illuminated by the flames. Presented itself as the ace of clubs. The card was tattered, creased from the battle. 

He could not help but chuckle.

How hilarious, so after all this time... All this time, I thought I was the queen of the board.

The flames cast a dark shadow, Arise's soul split in half, warped teetering to the cobbled roads.

Then, Arise laughed like a lunatic. His friends flinched as the laughter erupted. It was not joy, nor madness, a self thought that defined what he saw was the truth. He who acted as the ace, fulfilled what the queen wanted to do. The card fell out of his hand, plunging to the ground as his world around him devolved into a convoluted colors of purple and black; glitching like a computer error.

Like the everlasting night persuading the sky for a surrender, it all goes to black.

He flinched from the table riddled with beer bottles and food. Cheer rang through his ears as the drunken men behind them sang in unison.

Arise huddled to himself, his hand on his head; his head was being split like a log. He groaned as his world whirled like a washing machine. A dream, a strange one at that. It looked like a scene from a fantasy film. Eishi probably influenced him from the amount of light novels he made Arise read. Then he realized what he was doing in a bar. His memory felt shattered like glass, piercing like a puzzle but some parts were missing.

He heard a voice, a woman shook him. She said, "Get up, I don't like the smell of alcohol. Let's end your melodramatic musing, I know you'll get over it." The woman, with her smudged lipstick, disheveled brown hair patted Arise down. 

Blurry as it was, Arise opened his eyes. "H-huh?..." His words slurred as his face fell to the table.

Thud!

The bottles toppled over, beers spilled on the table.

Another voice emerged, it was a guy. "Oh, come on. Give him some slack already." With his lab coat, he gave the woman a coaxing smile. His black hair appeared to be muddied in Arise's vision.

"Eishi, stop spoiling him." The woman accused.

"You're just being harsh, Ayase."

Ayase scoffed at Eishi. She rummaged through her bag, cigarette in-between her hands. Then, a fluid lighter followed, holding the cigarette as she nudged the flint igniter.

Flick... Flick

A plume of smoke puffed out as the nauseating smell of nicotine tingled Eishi's nose.

"God, you're a hypocrite" Eishi released an exasperated sigh. He walked to Arise as he ruffled his ashen white hair. Eishi did not want his friend to be in this situation, of course, if someone else did this to themselves- one was bound to take pity on them. But it was excessive to this point. 

Wearing a white coat, she steered away from the beer off the table. "It's my habit, okay? Besides, drowning yourself in alcohol isn't any better." She believed what she sought to be the truth. Believing in madness what she saw as drinking a literal poison to forget one's unfortunate forthcomings, her smoking was comparable to such madness.

Then, the biologist gave her a jittery look. 

"But-"

"Nuh Uh, let me speak" Ayase interjected Eishi. Eishi resigned from reasoning, a woman like Ayase could not be reasoned when she was set on her own resolve. He took a shot glass full of booze, his eyes shut as the bitter tang of the alcohol slid through his throat. Eishi shivered.

"You- ugh, I can't believe you, seriously?" Ayase exasperated. She grabbed Eishi gently by the shoulders.

Eishi rolled his eyes from Ayase's actions. She was like this to begin with. Ever since high-school.

She released her grip from Eishi, huffing another smoke. "Why can't he accept that everything fails. So what if his nobel prize was ruined by those ugly old bastards? This isn't the Arise I knew- besides, he won a goddamn nobel prize and they did not, ugh the audacity."

My head hurts... What are they saying? He thought

His ears rang with their voices, mumbled and disembodied. Ayase's harsh remarks grew as Eishi retorted. What are they doing here? Ugh, did I drag them again with my problems... God you're stupid... Also why are we inside a bar?

The bile in his stomach threatened to come up. Retching as his colleagues fought in the backdrop. His memories trickled like water from a garden house. Seeping to his brain, permeating as he recalled what happened before.

It was a Saturday morning, and the sun glared its radiance upon the earth as renowned scientists pooled the convention for the next awardees of the nobel peace prize. It was the Solvay conference, one of the most prestigious conferences in the scientific world. The organizers thought the Nobel prizes could be awarded in the opening of the conference. Arise was invited here, as he was one of the scientists who won a nobel prize this year.

Though it was blurry, like crt-tv. He groaned as he remembered the bitter memories he had that day.

"Arise, are you okay?" The fighting stopped as Eishi walked closer to Arise, tapping his back. 

Bleargh!

He held his vomit, it burned through his esophagus. He tried to understand what Eishi was saying, his voice came as distant.

"Let's get out of here!'

"No, let him decide for himself."

"Oh, so he could drink himself to death? Hell, no"

"Can you be a bit more considerate?"

"Uh, no"

Both Ayase and Eishi's voice, the rambunctious patrons of the bar, the clinks of the bottles and the distant rev of cars in the distance. It rang like a bell, mixing into unintelligible words. A soup of nonsense.

From the corner of his eyes, where the light glared from his foggy eyes. He saw a young man, covered in robes, the young man was out of place, even more than the scientists inside the bar. He was glitching like a videogame, twitching as he drank a dark scotch from his glass.

Strange, he's totally out of place in this bar- wait, did that man just glitch? What's happening?

Even though his face was not visible, Arise could feel his smile. But, his head stinged as he winced his eyes closed. The entire bar was infected by this 'glitch' as if a virus invaded their world, sucking it with resources. But that's improbable. 

By the time he opened his eyes, the man was gone.

I drank too much, I did not know vivid hallucinations are one of alcohol's side effects.

Arise stood up from the booth. His legs wobbled like noodles. Eishi observed him as he felt like a tipping bottle. "Easy there." Eishi lifted Arise's arm and supported him.

Ayase smiled as she did the same. "Finally, you got the clear mind you needed?"

He looked at Ayase, then he groggily replied. "Definitely not, my mind felt like Einstein's"

"Strange?" Eishi asked.

"No, dissected." Arise muttered.

"You still have the energy to joke around? That's unlike you. I like it" Ayase's laughter clang in his ears.

They went out of the bar, out on the cold road. It caressed their skin as they slowly made their way to the crossroads. Arise passed out, leaving Eishi and Ayase to deal with him.

'Honestly?" Eishi commented.

"Let's get him to his hotel,"

Eishi nodded as the light turned to green.

"You know, carrying a sixty something kilogram man is hard and all, but you continued to baffle me." She winced, as the dull pain from her shoulders spread.

"It's not my fault I was born frail. Speak for yourself, gorilla maiden." Eishi fired back at Ayase. Then he added, "And besides, there is no way he could balance himself while knocked out."

Ayase sighed, as she agreed to Eishi's answer. "You're right, I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I'm sorry I called you a gorilla. We're professionals and we still act like children."

"Right?"

While the scientists crossed the road. A truck barrelled down the road, receiving orders from the higher ups about evading the authorities as the driver transported goods in the guise of a transportation truck. The air suddenly became hazy, filled with white fog as the yellow light of the truck provided visibility to him. Then as he approached the crossroads, a building collapsed on the three lanes. He had no choice and made a left turn.

The sirens blared as the police chased the truck.

Ayase stopped as she heard the sirens. "Huh? Do you hear that?"

"The sirens? Yeah I do." Eishi confirmed this with Ayase.

"Do you think it's the narcotics industry?"

"No way, that's absurd."

As the truck evaded the police, another road collapsed. Directing the truck to a specific path.

The young man perched at the spire of the building, his hair waved with the wind. He wore a tragic mask as watched as the truck chartered the intended path. His arms spread like a curtain, revealing the stage (The roads of Brussels). He gestured at another street.

Bang!

Another road collapsed, the residents shrieking at the sudden collapse of their homes. The truck driver noticed the irregularity of the collapsed buildings. Someone was directing him to something, but he does not know how someone could do this.

The last building crumbled into rubble as the driver forcibly took a turn.

Yellow light enveloped the three scientists in the middle of the road, the truck headed towards them. They had no time to react; it was the last time they were on earth.

The truck plunged through their body, blood splattered as their bones cracked through the impact. It lost control as it barrelled through the bar. It was reduced to a rubble of concrete and glass. A deafening silence permeated through the air; the corpses crushed under the weight of the rubble. Fire engulfed the bar as the police surrounded the area, flashing red and blue lights as the man gasped for air.

He tried to free himself, but blood spurted from his mouth and neck. A shard of glass was stuck to his neck, he could only release a gurgle of blood. He was paralyzed as he watched the flames engulf him. The man realized the horror he had done, he killed them. Not out of his volition, but because he thought the devil brought him this path.

"I'm sorry…"

…

He felt his skin, penetrated by the holy light. It felt warm, all his pain went away. Arise had no idea where he was, only seeing the eternal darkness and the warm light of 'sun' in the afterlife.

The light pierced his eyelids, he opened his eyes and was greeted by a sunlit forest. Animals were prancing as the abundance of fruits and vegetables on the trees and ground. The long winding river flowed downstream as the fishes jumped and smiled at Arise.

What the fuck am I looking at? He thought, everything felt surreal

"Hello?" He called out. Nothing answered. He saw the variety of birds flying overhead, the moss lined up on the side of the riverbed. In this place, he felt nothing but warmth and peace. He was not hungry nor distressed, it was like he fell to a place of perfection, an idyllic backdrop- Eden

Am I dead?

He looked around, nothing but wilderness in sight. Then, he checked his pockets, all of his things were gone. Even his cellphone.

Oh, god I am really dead? Not, my cell phone, I have important matters to attend!

Arise heard a voice behind him. "Arise? What are you doing there?"

He turned around, he saw Ayase as she adjusted her white coat that she wore previously. Eishi also stood behind a tree, a bird perched on his finger as he smiled. They were dead, total annihilation. Yet, they did not meet oblivion, rather some sort of heaven.

"Confirm it, are we really dead?" Arise asked Ayase. She reached her hand on him which Arise held onto to stand up. The water rushed, gurgling as the fish went along the current.

"Yeah, quite surreal, isn't it? Years of academy training wasted, researching on the big bang theory."

"If heaven existed, then-" 

 "Does god exist?" Ayase continued Arise's words. "Yeah, and it really pushed me into a deep pit for my scientific endeavors." Her words were as bitter as a cough medicine. Yes, she was proud of her own work, as a physicist, she needed to prove the conception of the reality around them, what space was, or did god ever existed? It really did prove her wrong, even the most plausible theory she held dearly, did not favor her after death.

Arise scanned the area of the possible 'God,' he could only see the animals live harmoniously together, heard their chirps and calls as his scientific mindset collapsed. Seeing how deflated Ayase's ego after death. He could not help but search for the validity of that so-called god.

"Where is it?" He pivoted his body in every direction. Vying to find the semblance of his dying principle.

"I don't know, it just vanished." Ayase shrugged, her voice was nonchalant. It was clear to that point, she gave up. She sat under the tree, picked a pear, and bit it. Juices gushed out as it tasted sour.

Like a speaker at full volume, a voice boomed into Arise's head, obnoxiously loud as it laughed like an elderly man. "Looking for me?" 

Arise jumped as he felt the hairs from his body stood up. Sheesh, that scared me.

"Sorry for frightening you, here, have some apples."

An apple reformed on Arise's hand, it came out of thin air. 

If this is really a god, then it means it made or conveyed the words for the bible and other religious texts. If that is the case, why is my body not covered in brimstone? He mused. Arise was convinced the punishment will befall on them as erudite sinners. Well, that was the knowledge the zealots imparted on him.

Suddenly, a golden glow fizzled in thin air. The god formed itself into a humanoid avatar; a hooded figure, its clothes were a sinews of golden thread, sewed into an imagery of the sun and moon and in the middle as the eclipse, a pure black moon covering a radiant sun.

He looked at it, scrutinizing the god. Why would a god masquerade like their creation?

"If you look at me that hard, I'll meet you in a puddle." The god giggled, so did the animals and even the trees.

For some reason, he was unnerved by it. He could feel it in his bones, something was wrong here. "You're asking yourself why you're not burning in hell?"

How on earth... Oh fuck, omniscience

"Yes," Arise straightened his spine as he stared at the god. Eishi and Ayase shared at glance at each other, they ran near Arise.

"That's an easy answer. Because, hell does not exist." The god answered.

"How could I know you're telling the truth?" Arise said, his hand on his hips. He was skeptical about everything in this place. It all felt… artificial.

Then Eishi grabbed him from behind. "Arise, are you crazy? The fuck are you saying?."

"So?" He looked to his side. Avoiding the biologist's gaze as voiced continued to ring on his head as Eishi reprimanded him.

"For all we know, it could actually make hell, specially tailored to us." Eishi ruffled his hair, his eyes noticeably sunk down as his gentle smile vanished.

"Eh, I'm sure it's benevolent. I mean, the church specifically said-" He halted, for some reason he could not trust what the church said about God anymore. He was in a front row seat to the being itself. It could answer his questions.

The god answered again. "You don't need to, as the sole creator of mankind, everything I say is true, everything I do will happen. My word is absolute."

Woah, narcissist much? Wait, no what am I saying, he just said he's god.

Arise sighed, he sat on the grassland. "Then, I have a question."

The god glanced at Arise, then it said, "Very well."

"What is this place?"

Birds fluttered near the god, perching as it explained: "You can call this the afterlife, the garden of eden, paradise, or even the spirit world. But the concept of Heaven and Hell are false promises. It clearly did not work, the world is a filthy place, yet I can't just eliminate my children after condemning their ancestors to a great flood."

Then it added, "Humans are my children, and they have a choice to stay or leave."

"What happens if you leave?" Ayase asked, the allure of reincarnation perked her interest. Her motivation flared like an old furnace, refueled by a new batch of coals.

"I'll give you another chance at life." The god answered. Truthfully as it said, no strings attached to it.

"Can we leave?" Ayase asked.

"Hm... Let's see." The god stood for a moment, thinking. Another one of Arise's doubts emerged… The god took time to think even if it said in its holy scriptures that an almighty god has three qualities… Omniscience, Omnipresence, Omnipotence…

If it really had omniscience, it would answer in an instant. But, it itself was not proof of its fraudulent nature, especially if Ayase's interest piqued on the tempting allure of what the god could do. He could never beat her in a debate, she was always winning debates on her own.

The three looked in dismay, exchanging glances as the god stood in silence. They huddled around in the corner under a tree. "Do you think we can trust it?" Arise asked, his voice full with skepticism.

"Of course, it's god." Ayase replied. The pillars of her mind strengthened with the promises of redemption. The crying child, his sisters, the flames within the orphanage. If she were reborn, she would change her ways, redeeming herself.

"You became weirdly religious, are you sick?" Eishi joked as he smiled.

"No, you dimwit, I'm just thinking logically. I wasted 30% of my life for a PHD. I want second chance"

Ayase was an opportunist, even as a student. It was the reason how she met Arise and Eishi during their middle-school. She saw the reincarnation as a key to fixing her life, regretting her decision pursuing science, only to be disproven by a single entity after death. It irked her, yet it was her only shot at trying again.

Then, the god returned, it announced something. The three scientists flinched as its voice. "I'll give you a chance, not trying again at Earth but a different one. I'll give you a choice: Stay or Leave."

Huh, what does he mean by that? Not on earth but a different one? What is this, a light novel?

Eishi's eyes lit up as he shrieked in excitement. "Transmigration! Are we really getting into a transmigration scenario?" His body trembled as he lurched at Arise.

Eishi was a quiet kid, meek as he indulged himself in books. Arise met him in elementary, he saw him sitting in the garden, book in his hand. It was a particular book, The Raven. Arise took interest in him due to their shared love of books. Their friendship blossomed right there, timely, as they reached middle-school, light novels started to enter the masses as a cheap yet entertaining literary medium to read. He drowned Arise with these light novels, his particular favorite was Reincarnated as a gelatin.

"Take us there." Ayase demanded. Finally, it was the thing she wanted the most, to get a second chance. But, Arise on the other hand opposed it.

"Are you crazy?" Arise shouted. For him, there was no reason for it, considering his growing doubt of the god, he could not feel but express his distrust. Every aspect of the afterlife felt staged, as if they were in for a casting.

They could feel their growing doubt against each other, one does not believe in such beings, even one is in front of him, and the other surrendering to her desires. "No, I am not."

"Why are you accepting it blindly?"

"Because the choice is a no-brainer."

"But, that doesn't mean its claim was credible."

"Why are you against it?" Ayase snapped as her veins protruded on her head.

"I'm not against it, I'm just saying we think of it logically."

Eishi then put himself between the two, "Stop it, you two. Why can't we go into an agreement?"

Ayase's body jerked as she furrowed her brows. "Because Arise is a skeptical prick."

"I am not!"

"You're going to say that the god is suspicious."

"I am, so what? Do you think I want to risk myself in a precarious situation?"

"So, you're gonna stay here, moping with your problems?"

"Like I said, I'm just thinking it logically, I never said I want to stay here."

Her voice cracked, "So am I!"

Arguing with Ayase never felt so crushing. He loved her like a sister, Ayase does too. Yet, to argue with her like this, where the state of their life could change depending on which image of the god was true and its intentions. It felt so pointless, after all, it was an illusion of choice.

"Send us there." Ayase demanded.

Then Arise intervened. "Are you serious?" He could not shake the feeling of dread looming around him like a dark cloud. He wanted to keep them safe, yet Ayase wanted a leap of faith.

"Yes, can you see it? It's our chance to redeem ourselves. To start anew, Eishi was excited by this too. Arise, can you see it?"

"I wasted half of my life in pursuit of science, gaining a PHD. Sacrificing my sanity to please my thirst for knowledge. But it wasn't enough. So, please, don't rob this second chance off me?"

His lips squirmed. He could not break her logic, while her reasoning was selfish- Arise

forcing them to reconsider was equally selfish. He could not see her life this way, disappointing her and Eishi.

"I just don't want to lose our humanity, and if we transmigrate... We're gonna be separated." There was a hint of sadness in his voice.

Eishi giggled, "What are you? A child?"

The volcano calmed down. Arise looked down, his lips twitched as his face was crimson hued.

"N-no,"

"We'll find each other. No matter what, let's promise ourselves." Ayase reassured Arise.

"I promise," Eishi started.

"I promise," Ayase followed.

He looked up again, he swallowed his pride as he uttered. "I promise."

"Let's make a code, our bodies must be different in the other world." Ayase proposed.

"What about an inside joke?" Eishi suggested.

"'How's the space program going?'" Arise blurted out.

Ayase laughed as she heard Arise. "AHahahaha, there, right there. That's going to serve as our code. Don't forget it"

"We choose to Leave."

The god nodded. Their body disassembled piece by piece as Arise felt his limbs weak. His eyes lid reared to close shut. His consciousness slipped into darkness as he heard the god's final words.

"I will put you in a world full of suffering, magic and wonders. I will give you free will to explore and dominate, and survive. Remember to rely on your abilities, so I'll bestow you an ability of your own. Look into yourself, and may you survive the harshest battles."

Everything felt like a blur, the water gurgled as he floated into an endless sea of nothingness. It was like he was drifting in a stream of time, suspended in place as he felt like it was several hours to a thousand years. All were muffled and warped, the sound of water streaming down as the cold pierced through his bones

Where am I?